This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Bombardier’s CSeries jet expected for first flight, but other hurdles remain

Later this month, a plane will be sent up high into the skies near Montreal to ensure flying conditions are ideal. Then, if its pilots give the go-ahead, spectators will hold their breath and the Bombardier CSeries jet will take off for its much-anticipated maiden flight.

Assuming all goes well, it will mark a critical test for Bombardier as it tries to break into the larger plane market, though many other hurdles await, including making sure the all-new aircraft can enter service in a year’s time as promised.

“We anticipate it will fly,” said George Ferguson, a senior analyst for Bloomberg Industries. “Usually, there’s not a problem. Usually, they fly.

“We’ll all be excited to see it fly, but there’s so much work that has to be done.”

Ferguson sees the test more as a gateway into the rest of the program. “To me, it’s more of the beginning of the unfolding, of what it will ultimately take to put this airplane into service,” he said, noting a frenzy of tests will be conducted over the next year.

Article Continued Below

The project, a decade in the making, comes with a huge $3.4 billion investment.

“The CSeries is, not quite, but almost bet-your-company for Bombardier,” said McGill University business professor Karl Moore, noting that the company also runs a large rail division.

A pioneer in regional jets with a strong business jet operation, Bombardier wants to break into the commercial narrow-body aircraft market now dominated by Boeing and Airbus.

That’s a tough duopoly to challenge given the popularity of Boeing’s 737 models and Airbus 319 and 320 aircraft. Airlines usually think twice before choosing another manufacturer, especially if they already have trained staff and maintenance programs in place.

“Bombardier needs to deliver an airplane to initial airlines that is on weight and meets the efficiency specifications,” said Ferguson.

He thinks if the plane can meet promises, then potential customers who may be waiting on the sidelines may be ready to sign on the dotted line. But it needs to move quickly as other manufacturers, including Japanese, Chinese and Russian companies, are also developing new planes.

Bombardier’s advantage is that it doesn’t have a huge backlog of orders, unlike Boeing and Airbus, where customers might face waits of five to six years for delivery, he said.

“I think the advantage to Bombardier if they do deliver this airplane, even if it’s not totally on time, but it’s within the specifications they have shown, they can pull in extra orders,” Ferguson said.

Bombardier officials believe the CSeries — built with composite materials as well as new technology, including a turbo-fan engine that is touted as being quieter — has selling points that will be attractive to buyers, especially the fuel efficiency that comes thanks to its light weight.

Porter Airlines has placed a conditional order that is contingent on it getting permission to operate out of Toronto’s island airport, which would need to extend its runway.

The CS100 model, which seats 110 to 125 passengers, is the jet Bombardier is developing first. The larger CS300 jet, which can seat 135 to 160 passengers, isn’t expected to enter service until late 2014.

Mike Arcamone, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, said there’s no chance of timing the first flight to coincide with one of the industry’s biggest events, the Paris Air Show, which starts June 17.

Airbus is expected to have the first flight of its A350 plane next week in Toulouse, France, and speculation is growing that the company may schedule a fly-by or some sort of stunt to coincide with the Paris show.

“The planes are built. The instrumentation is on. It’s fuelled,” said Arcamone in an interview in Toronto. But he insisted the first flight will not coincide with Paris. “Pilots are doing vibration tests, low taxiing, high taxiing to see how the plane behaves.”

When they’re ready, they send out what’s known as “a chaser plane,” to check weather conditions at 30,000 feet and make sure they’re ideal, he said.

The first flight could spur new orders, but Bombardier this week announced that Russia’s leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. has firmed up an order that covers 32 CS300 aircraft with options for an additional 10.

As well, Gulf Air of Bahrain, a previously unnamed customer for 10 firm orders of CS100 jets, becomes the launch customer in the Middle East.

David Tyerman, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said there could be more announcements at the Paris Air Show, but it’s not a given.

“Bombardier has been clear for several years now that it doesn’t line up the orders for the air shows,” he said.

Tyerman added that Bombardier has shown that first flight is not a necessary precondition for customers to sign on, referring to the Ilyushin order.

However, he said that some customers may be on the sidelines waiting for the first flight, which he called a significant “de-risking” event.

“It’s quite conceivable that some customers have said they want to see some further ‘de-risking’ before they’re ready to sign on,” Tyerman said, adding that there is some speculation that easyJet, a low-cost carrier based in Britain, is interested in the CSeries.

Bombardier has vowed not to offer deep discounts as it set a goal of 300 firm orders by entry into service next year.

With this week’s announcement, Bombardier now has 177 firm CSeries orders out of 388 orders and commitments.

Arcamone said the company doesn’t see the first flight as a critical catalyst for sales, saying customers are looking at individual budgets and timelines.

But he conceded that there are some customers who are saying, “Please fly the plane so I can go sell it to my board,” because they have burned in the past by delays with other competitors, he said.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com